Ever since I attended Sheridan for animation there's been this conversation buzzing in my head that I had with one of my profs - one of the best cartoonists in the world (Peter Emslie) - about the nature of cartoon animals and furries and how the two, as he puts it, simply do not mesh.

So someone like myself who is a furry and has grown up with furry artwork, I couldn't see or understand the difference, and begged him to explain to me how it all worked.

Eventually he came up with the statement that Cartoon animals retain "an animal nature" while Furry artwork is "a human masquerading as an animal" - which I naturally found insulting, but what can you say to the man who has basically drawn the art for every single piece of Disney memorabilia ever?

You just can't.

So thus, the conversation in my head - looking at the designs of what he considered to be "acceptable anthropomorphism" and where his line was drawn - then take that information and categorize that same development of "additional humanity" to make a full chart of what anthropomorphism really IS.

Thus, I came up with a 13 part "chart" of degrees of anthropomorphism, which may one day be handy as a reference, or perhaps to push someone's stlye outside of what they're used to.

The Chart is as follows:

1 - a normal animal. Emotional content is extremely limited, and can only be expressed through normal animalistic actions (a dog will not "smile" when happy, but it will wag its tail). Relates to humans as a normal animal would. ie - Dinah in Alice in Wonderland.

2 - a thinking animal. Lacks verbalization beyond animal noises, however, it can and does express itself with human emotions through it's eyes, posture and environmental response. Relates to humans as a pet/pest. ie - Pluto the Dog.

3 - a pretending animal. May speak freely and emote as a human does, though certain emotions will still have animal aspects (laying back its ears, or growling). It may wear some limited clothing, but generally, only what a human may dress it in. Will not stand on its hind feet if a quadruped. Relates to humans as a pet/pest, however, this is only an 'act'. ie - the animal cast of 101 Dalmations.

4 - talking beast. This animal acts, dresses, talks and walks like a human even though it's anatomy does NOT allow for it normally or comfortably. It still has largely animal-based features - such as a rat with a torpedo-shaped body, or a bird that must look at people sideways - often animals relate in traditional ways according to their 'base animal' such as a rat being sneaky or a badger being grumpy, and size differences are not considered to be problematic even if there are gross differences. Humans rarely exist with these animals, but if they do, the animals view humans as equals (they do not pretend to be "normal animals"). Quadrupeds walk on their hind legs. ie - Reepicheep from the Narnia series, or Redwall, or Wind in the Willows.

5 - cartoon animal. This animal is STILL an animal, even though his day to day life can be very human. While his animal nature only rarely comes into play, it is still present, especially when he must deal with humans or other animals. Size differences still play some part, though they are no longer always accurate to life. The animal will still have largely animalistic proportions for the puposes of animating (having a short humerus, for example) and beaked and muzzled characters are still proportionate in the face, and while they will have opposable thumbs, their paws still tend towards the animal side. ie - Robin Hood Characters.

6 - the toon. This animal is only JUST recognizable as being 'animal-like' - generally in the torso. The arms are often tube-like, and generally end in the traditional "3 fingered glove". Facial proportions are often exaggerated past the base animal (and are often unrecognizable as a given animal without ears or a tail for reference). The animal may wear clothing, always walks on its hind legs, and while it still thinks of itself as an animal, it has no qualms about messing around with humans. Size differences are generally ignored, and a rabbit or duck may be as tall or taller than a human. ie - Looney Tunes, most major Disney characters.

Thus ends the "cartoon animal" and now we enter the "animalistic human" stage.

7 - lycanthrope. These creatures blend human and animal proportions in a slightly different manner. Even if this is an animal "becoming human" or vice versa, a lycanthrope usually has a nearly human torso with nearly human arms despite the back legs, neck and head being animal-based. This type of Chimerism is hard for people to deal with on a general level which is why it's very common for this format to be used in the horror genre. Usually retains opposible thumbs, rarely wears clothing, and often runs on all fours, though it can stand on its hind legs.

8 - traditional furry. Having a nearly human torso and arms, the traditional furry's head, legs, handsand feet are usually still very animal-based. Like the lycanthrope, this chimerism is hard for people to deal with visually. While no longer capable of running on all fours, digitigrade feet are common, and while the hands may be paw-like they are nearly always opposeble. Faces still retain a proper muzzle.

9 - mascot-style furry. Having a human torso, arms, hands and legs, a mascot furry is only "animal" in the head (which is usually styled to shorten beaks and muzzles), feet (which are always plantigrade no matter what the base animal was) and peripherals (possibly they have a tail or wings)

10 - traditional werewolf. Having a almost completely human body, but often covvered in shaggy fur with a slight muzzle, clawed hands and pointed ears, this style has become less popular, generally for the same reason the lycanthrope (above) is rarely used. At a certain point the uncanny valley creates an uncomfortable feeling in something that is "sort of human" but "not human enough" - which is why this 'form' is used in little but the horror genre.

11 - nekomimi. The traditional anime "cat"girl - though this can apply to any animal. Having almost 100% human bodies, their only completely animal features are usually tails and ears. They may also have obviously 'furred' parts of their bodies, or may be covered in a short dense fur that is only apparent in an extreme close up - they may have some slight semblance of a muzzle (usually only noticeable from certain angles or during certain expressions) and may have clawed hands/fangs (again, they may not always be "obviously clawed/fanged" at all times).

12 - feral human. This is a human with vague animal imprints. They may have fine fur, slightly pointed ears, animal-based eyes, fangs, and sharp fingernails (not claws). They do not have tails or wings. They may be super agile along the lines of an animal, but largely they look and act human.

13 - normal human.

My project, of course will be to draw this evolution of the "cartoon animal" and "furry" arcs with several different characters, just to show off anthropomorphism in all its varying degrees.

((yes my grammar is horrible and my spelling not much better. but I'm tired and this took WAY longer to type up than I thought it would.))